saith That by Adam sinne entred into the world It sufficeth to know That God by just imputation realizeth the infection into the whole race of Adam in whom we were as in a common Lumpe and in his leaven sowred In his Loines we were and there we sinned and so did partake of his guilt which like a common infection worse then a leprosie we took from our Parents and transmitted it to our Children a Seede of evill doers So we sprang up as the seede doth with stalke and huske though the fanne made the same difference betwixt the wheate in the heape and the other fitted for the seede as grace doth betwixt the Parent and the Childe Though the Parent be accepted in the righteous one and his sinne covered the guilt remitted yet sinne and guilt are transmitted to the Childe Hereby the Parents see matter of great humiliation h Book pag. 32 they feele a tye also and an engagement upon them to doe their utmost to prevent the evill whereof they have beene a Channell of conveyance unto their Childe It is their Image They its debtors It is very equall and a point not so much of mercy as of justice That we should for I am a Parent too labour by all meanes and take all occasions whereby through Gods blessing our owne and bad image may be defaced and the New which is after Christ formed on and in the Childe This is that we should endeavour with all our might giving All diligence It is an heavy and grievous judgement which we reade threatned against Parents and Children I will recompence your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together i Esa 65. 7. That is Because the Fathers have committed an abomination and ye their Children have done according to the same abomination therefore the wickednesse of the wicked shall be upon him k Ezech. 18. 20. I will lay your sinnes together as upon heapes visiting you both Children and Fathers in your heapes of sinne O pray we in our prayer pray l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iames 5. 17. wrestling and weeping pray we earnestly m Hosea 12. 3. 4. Remember not against us former iniquities n Psal 79. 8. Recompence not our iniquities and the iniquities of our Children together nor measure out unto us our old Worke into our bosome This Mercy we should pray so for and long-after even from the heart-root we should long For if the curse was heavy and sore which we reade of Psal 109. 14. then is the mercy great and greatly to be sought after from the Lord Let not the iniquitie of the Father be remembred with the Lord against the Childe and let the sinne of the Mother be blotted out Whensoever the Lord visits the Childe for Sinne certainly it should call the sinne of the Parent to remembrance o 1 King 17. 18. and so it will doe if the conscience be not asleepe or seared Then he will discerne that there was a great and weighty reason that made the Woman of Canaan thus to petition Christ p Matt. 15. 22. Have mercy on me O Lord thou Sonne of David my Daughter is grievously vexed with a Divell She counted the Childes vexation hers so would she the mercy We have filled our Childrens bones with sinne which will fill their hearts with sorrow It is our engagement to doe all we can though that All be two little to roote that sinne out which we have beene a meanes to roote so fast in I shall in another place the Second Part q Chap. 2. speake more unto this roote of bitternesse and the fruits springing thence whereby all are defiled Here I have onely pointed unto it as it engageth the Parent upon this so necessary and principall a service touching the good culture and breeding of the Child And we see what an engagement it is the greatest and strongest that can be thought of And so much as an Induction to Duty what this Duty is comes now to be handled To the Reader THis Treatise tendeth to the erecting of faire Edifices to the Lord which are the children of children of men The Author sheweth himself herein a skilfull builder in that he first layeth a sure solid foundation and then reareth thereupon his goodly edifice This the Lord Himselfe noted to be the part of a prudent builder Luk. 6. vers 48. He wisely sheweth when and by whom especially this foundation is to be laid even by Parents so soone as their children attaine any competent capacitie Young and tender yeares are flexible and may easily be bowed this way or that way They are like a Argillà quidvis imilaberis udâ— Hor. the moist potters clay which may readily be fashioned into any shape and like soft waxe which soone receives any print Nor so only but also long retains what it first receiveth like b Quo semel est imbuta yecens servabit odorem Testa diu Idem a vessell which long holds the savour which it first tooke while it was new Old men are said to remember in their elder yeares what they learned in their younger I shall not need to presse this further it being so plentifully and pithily pressed by the Author himself who layes his foundation very deep even in the mothers wombe and goeth along from infancy to childhood thence to youth and so on till he bring his childe to a growne yea an old man full of dayes going to the grave in a full age like as a sheafe of corne cometh in in his season c Job 9. 26. In every estate and degree of these Ages even from the wombe to the grave he prescribeth pertinent and profitable directions not to children only but also to Parents Guardians Schoole-masters Tutors Governours of all sorts of Societies yea and to Ministers too whom he fitly styleth Instructors of Instructors So full he is as he hath passed nothing over in this long journey without a due observation whether it concerns the mothers care of the childe in her wombe or after in the infancy or both Parents care about a new birth or initiating it in pietie good manners good literature at home at schoole at Vniversity or any other good Seminary Yea also about calling marriage carryage to Parents to their superiours equalls and inferiours in all ages times and places This is that faire Edifice whereof intimation was made before fairer then the Edifices which have formerly been erected by Xenophon in his d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Institution of Cyrus by Plutarch in his Treatise e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of training up children by Clemens Alexandrinus in his f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Instructour of children by Hierome in his Epistle to Laeta concerning the g De institutione filiae educating of her daughter by Erasmus in his Discourse h De puâ—ris stalim liberaliter iastituendis of timely and liberall training up of children or by others in
teach But now to instance in a creature most familiar with us and of the very lowest ranke A Dogge And not to speake of his logick which they say he hath and the Hunts-man discernes that so it is This we must note because it is so usefully noted to our hands A Dog will follow m Sâ—e Hist of the World 1 Book cap. 11. sect 6. Lege Lipsium Cent. 3. Ad. Bel. epi 56. c. Cent 1 epist 44. Cic. lib. 2. de natura deor paper 323. Scal. exerci 202. 6. his masters foot he will keep of the theife and the murtherer he will defend his master if he be strong enough if not and his master be slain for so we reade it hath faln out he will stay by the carkasse till he pine away with hunger or he will pursue the man of bloud and single him forth as if he would tell the beholders That is the man that kill'd my master All this a Dog will do and more then this though this is most strange as experience hath told us And why all this why because he hath received a dry-bone from his masters hand and sometimes a bit of bread Therefore will this Dog put forth his strength to the utmost in way of requitall for his masters peace and securitie Hearken unto this all ye that forget God hearken Will the Dog do all this for a dry-bone and an hard crust n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hex Hom. 9. What will they say for themselves who love not the Lord Jesus what excuse can they finde who forget their Good Master in heaven who feeds them and doth cloth them every day who doth preserve them every moment of the day from whose hands they receive all good and nothing but good nothing which they can properly call evill What will they say so St. Basill reproves unthankfull man so like a swine and fish so untameable so unteachable so farre faln even below a Dog I know not what some may thinke when they spie a Dog here and that he is here for this purpose to instruct his Master we may thinke him too low a servant very faithfull though he be for that purpose But what ever is thought this I think nay this I know and am sure of That there is not a Creature in the World which doth so mightily convince reprove ashame mans ingratitude as the dog doth how so Because he doth so much for so little And man doth so little for so much And let us observe it well and make this as familiar with us as our dog is for we shall have no excuse for the neglect of our service to that Lord who gives us to reape where we sowed not and to dwell were we builded not we shall have nothing to say why we are unmindfull of such a Master The dog hath led me a little beyond my mark but not out of my way my scope here is but this to shew that so we are degenerated so low are we falne the Beasts exceed man in their Naturals and men in their pure Naturalls make not that improvement of their senses for their Masters service their owne safety and mutuall comfort each with other as the Beasts doe no cause we should be proud of our Naturals And for Intellectuals being without that which the Apostle saith our speech should be seasoned with the Salt of Grace they may prove and ordinarily doe like Absoloms haire deadly So I remember a Knight that suffered upon Tower-hill acknowledged who had not returned his gifts to the glory of the Giver Nay more for wee hope better of him they make a man more miserable then the beasts that perish Achitophel is a sad example hereof so is Machevil who say the Italians so I learne out of Bishop Andrews rotted in pÌ„son Reason and speech they are the chiefe properties Ratio Orâ—tiâ— differencing man from a Beast Reason is the Crowne of a man his tongue his glory the same word in the sacred Tongue signifyes both But if man shall depose reason taking from it Hersoveraignty I mean in earthly matters then will a man be carryed like a horse that hath cast his rider and he will abuse his Tongue also vilifying that which should have honored him and in so doing he will liken himselfe to the most stinking place that we can passe by and to the most odious name that is named under the Sunne and so in the end will fall lower then a Beast can A Beast can fall no lower then the Earth nor doth it apprehend any evill till it feele the same and when it comes it is soone over and there 's an end Which remembers me of Pyrrhoes Hog that did eate his meate quietly in the Ship almost covered with waters when all the men there were halfe dead with feare But now reasonable Creatures are sometimes perplexed with unreasonable fears A mans apprehension may present evils that are not as impendent which may make his knees smite together and with all the apprehension of the time that is past and of that which to come may torment him too before he come to the place of his torment Bee not like the horse and mule then which have no understanding for then thy condition will bee much worse and lower then theirs in the latter end It may be I shall never call thee to an account nor live to see how thou hast thriven But consider this first what an Heathen Plut. de fraterno amore spake it is very worthy a childs consideration We are charged that we doe ill to none much lesse to a parent but it is not enough for a child not to hurt his parents he must doe them all the good he can his whole deportment must be such such his words and deeds that thereby he may glad the heart of his parent else it is wicked and unjust Marke it for thus much it implyes It is not enough that the child doth not actually or positively give the parent cause of sorrow that were monstrous he or she must not privatively rob them of their comfort or stop them of their rejoycing even this were impious and unjust It is not enough not to grieve the parent not to give them matter of sorrow the childe that doth not more doth not his dutie he must give them matter of comfort and gladding of hearts This a childes dutie let a childe thinke of it and that an Heathen spake it from whom a lesson comes double to a Christian Consider again what the Lord saith It is a people of no understanding therefore He that made them will not have mercy on them p Esa 27. 12. Consider with that Scripture what the Apostle saith q 2 Thes 1. 8. In flaming fire taking vengeance of them that know not God c. If this and that be considered Thou wilt cry r Prov. 2. 3. after knowledge and lift up thy voyce forunderstanding wisdome is the principall
to God S. Con. 85. In a Family the Fathers and the Mothers care is the greatest The Childes care is onely to obey and the servants to doe his work Care of Provision and Protection doth not trouble them Most of our disquietnesse in our Calling is that we trouble our selves about Gods work whereas we should Trust God and be doing in fitting the Childe and let God alone with the rest He stands upon His credit so much that it shall appeare we have not trusted Him in vaine even when we see no appearance of doing any good when we cannot discerne by all our spialls the least shew either for provision or Protection We remember who were very solicitous for their Children and because they could not provide for them nor protect them neither therefore perish they must in the wildernesse We must remember also That the Lord took care of those Children and destroyed those distrustfull parents who thought there was no path in a wildernesse because they could not discerne any nor meate to be had there because their hand was too short to provide it It is dangerous questioning the power of God in the greatest straite If He bring any person into a wildernesse it is because He may shew His power there for provision and protection both God works most wonderfully for and speaks the sweetest comfort to the heart in a wildernesse Note we this then and so I conclude There is much uncertainty in the Certainty of man and all Certainty in the uncertainty of God I tearme it so by allowance of the Spirit i 1 Cor. 1. 25. in respect of mans apprehension There is no uncertainty in God but all Certainty as in Him is all Wisdome all Strength We apprehend that there is a Certainty in man and an Uncertainty in God for if we observe our hearts we Trust Him least but that is our Foolishnesse and Weaknesse There is all uncertainty in men even in the best of men in Princes place no Certainty there There is all Certainty in God as in Him is all Wisdome and Strength put we confidence there Cast we Anchor upwards Commit we all but in well-doing all we have and all we are into his everlasting Armes Then assuredly we shall finde a stay for our selves and a portion for ours Provision and Protection both He is all to us and will be so when we are nothing in our selves And so much touching my Wildernesse and Gods providing for me even there though I tempted him ten times I call it a wildernesse for so I may because so my foolishnesse in my wayfare made it And Gods provision for me was very remarkable and therefore to be remembred for the Parents sake and Childrens too of great use and concernment to both Indeed he that can say no more of his Travels but that he passed through a Wildernesse hath said little to commend his Pilgrimage but much to magnifie the power of That Hand whereby he had a safe Convoy through the same It is a poore and worthlesse life such mine is that hath nothing worthy to be remembred in it but its Infirmities But yet there is nothing so magnifies Gods power * 2 Cor. 12. 9. as mans weaknesse doth When I shall give account of my life and cast up the summe thereof saith Iunius k Miserationes Domini narrabo quum rationes narrabo miserae vitae meae ut glorificetur dominus in me qui secit me vitâ Junii affix Oper. Theol. and so he begins I shall tell of the mercies of the Lord and His loving kindnesse to me ward And then he goes on reckoning up the infirmities of his body some of his minde too but that he puts a Marke upon is what extremitie he was in at Geneva and how graciously the Lord disposed thereof for that was remarkable indeed Beza also spareth not to tell us nay he fills his mouth with it how troublesome the Itch was to him not so easily cured then Deut. 28. 29. as now and what a desperate way the Smart the Chyrurgeon put him to and bad Counsell put him upon Such it was that there was but a step betwixt him and death but God wonderfully put to His Hand inter Pontem fontem Beza could not but confesse that Mercy as we finde it in his Epistle before his Confefsions And so farre That the Parent and Childe both may learne to account Gods works and if it might be to call His mercies by their names and to rest upon Gods providence as the surest inheritance Now I come to give the reason of my paines in all this which follows and what ingageth a Parent unto this Duty 1. I considered my yeers declining a pace When the Sunne is passed the Meridian and turned towards its place where it must set then we know the night approcheth when man ceasing from his work lyeth down in the Darke It is the Wisemans Counsell l Eccles 9. 10. and it is his wisdome to do that which is in his hand with all his might m Prima Actionum Argo Committenda sunt extrema Briareo de Aug. l. 6. 41. before he goes hence for there is no working in the grave The putting off this Day and the next and halfe a day cost the poore Levite and his Concubine very deer as we read Iudg. 19. And it teacheth us in our affairs concerning our selves or ours in setting our house in order That it is dangerous triflng away the Day-light I cannot say with Isaac I am old or mine eye is dimme but I must say in the following words I know not the day of my Death God may spare me among mine yet longer for my building is not so old but it may stand And yet so unsound the foundation is for it is of Clay it may sinke quickly as my good Father before me I may lye down turne to the Wall and to the earth all at once though yet I have scarcely felt and so also my Father before me the least distemper If this consideration come home and proves seasonable I shall then set all in a readinesse and in order that when Death comes I may have then no more to doe but to welcome it and shut the eye and depart tanquam Conviva Satur as one that hath made an improvement of life and hath hope in Death That was my first consideration 2. I considered my Children all three young the eldest but peeping into the World discerning little the second but newly out of the armes the youngest not out of the Cradle I considered also they are not so much mine as the Lords Whom thou hast borne unto me saith the Lord Ezek. 16. 20. And therefore in all reasonable Construction to be returned back againe unto Him by a well ordered education as himselfe hath appointed These thoughts so over-ruled me at length for I am not easily drawn to take my Pen in hand and prevailed with me to pen some instructions
fancies never It is a debasing of humanitie below beasts to please the eye I say not in beholding one man teare and mangle another but to see poore beasts encountring each other and mangling each other being set on by man we must not make Gods judgements and punishments of sinne for we made the beasts wild our sinne put the enmitie betwixt the Woolfe and the Lambe c Quis seras â—â—cit â—isi â—u Mor. de verit religionis cap. 12. the matter and object of our recreation Alas sinfull man it is Mr. d Direct 156. Boltons patheticall expression what an heart hast thou that canst take delight in the cruell tormenting of a dumbe creature Is it not too much for thee to behold with dry eyes that fearefull brand which only thy sinne hath imprest upon it but thou must barbarously also presse its oppressions and make thy selfe merry with the bleeding miseries of that poore harmlesse thing which in its kinde is much more and farre better serviceable to the Creator then thy selfe Yet I deny not but that there may be another lawfull use of this Antipathy for the destroying of hurtfull and enjoying of usefull creatures so that it be without any taint or aspersion of crueltie on our part or needlesse tormenting of the silly beasts It is a sure note of a good man He is mercifull to his beast And it is worth our marke That the Lord commands a mercy to a creature perhaps not worth two farthings and for this He promiseth a great mercy the like blessing which is promised to them who honour their father and mother Deut. 22. 6 7. If thou finde a birds nest c. Thou shalt in any wise let the Dam go and take the young to thee That thou mayest prosper and prolong thy dayes This is to lead to mercy and to take out of our hearts crueltie saith Mr Ainsworth It is the least of all in Moses law and yet such a promise is annexed thereunto as we heard so true is that which the learned Knight hath The debts of mercie and crueltie shall be surely paid Think we on this so we have our duty and we shall teach our children theirs and then though the bloud of the creature be not spared for we have dominion over it yet it shall not be abused nor shall we delight our selves in the pain of it which tends to much evil which we must by all means and all too little prevent and at the first while the minde is tender and doth easily receive any impression 15. It is not possible to point at all the evils whereof our corrupt nature is fruitfull nor at all the meanes whereby to prevent the growth of the same I remember how Ad Dâ—m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isocrates concludes his oration so full of instructions With all our diligence we cannot overcome the pravitie and corruption of our nature And yet we must not sit still therefore and do nothing at all because all we do is too little We must with the husbandman cast up the ground and cast out the stones and thorns that is the order and then cast in the seed that is our duty And we must look up to an higher hand who makes the seed to grow that is a parents wisdome We must not forget the order this plucking up these weeds first where with our nature like the sluggards field is over-run which will so choake the seed as that no fruit can be brought to perfection The Greeks have a proverb some what homely but it teacheth very much you must not put f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. deâ—ducat meat into a chamber-pot This teacheth that good instructions to a stubborn and corrupt heart are as good meat to a foule stomack the more we put in the more we increase the distemper We must look to the cleansing the heart in the first place the keeping that fountain clean as we would the Spring-head whence we would fetch pure water I remember the reproof that was given to a very loose companion who yet would sit very close and attentive at a Philosophers lecture It g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aul. Gell. 17. 19. will come to nothing young man which you take in nay it will rather hurt then do good because you have not looked to the cleansing of the vessel And this reproof is the same in substance with that prohibition which we finde Ier. 4. 3. 4. h Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. 1. p. 203. When there is no pains taken for the cleansing of the heart first but we bring our old corrupted hearts to new and holy lessons they agree no better then new wine and old bottles all is lost the instructions spilt and if any good purposes were they vanish like the morning dew and the heart returns again like the swine or the dogge And the very reason thereof we have heard 16. We may note now in the shutting up hereof that we may abridge our way and make it shorter by leaving precepts and proposing examples for these take best with children and it is the more compendious and certain way So the sober master reproves his drunken servant he bids him leade his horse to the water when the horse had drunk and had sufficient he bids his servant make the horse drink again which when he assayed but could not do he thereby corrected his servant as the verier beast And so the old man in i Lib. 1. Ser. Sat. 4. insâ—â—viâ— patâ—r optimus hoc me c. Horace deales with his young sonne for disswading him from the vices and sinnes of the time he proposeth such unto him whose sinne had been their ruine See childe yonder poore ragged fellow it is very truly observed of him that he was a very bad husband of his time and purse he cast away his time as a worthlesse commoditie and his money as if it could never be spent now he would recall both but cannot Learn thou by his example to account time pretious and well to husband both it and thy purse Learn also to put a fitting esteem upon those creatures which are appointed for thy nourishment and refreshing for this fellow whom you heare crying out for one bit of bread and one drop of drink was wont having plenty of both to tread his bread under foot and to cast his drink in the street Behold another he goes creeping by the wall nothing but skin and bone a loathsome carkeise he rots above ground It is truly observed of him that he minded nothing but his pleasure he would do whatsoever was pleasing in his eyes and now that his light is consumed to the socket and going out in a snuffe and pains are upon him he mourns But now behold a third see how well furnished he is every way accomplished a companion for the best man in the parish he hearkened to instruction and was wise After this manner the
fire take his chamber he is fewell for it such sad examples we have known our eyes have seene The destroying angel but one of Gods guard hath set forth in the night and before the morning hath executed his commission our adversary wil do that to us sleeping which he cannot waking many have gone to bed well and before morning have made their appearance before the Iudge of the whole world and then as they lay down so they rise up and so provided or so destitute there is no time for provision then when we are summoned to appeare Naturally all things seeme black unto us in the night and if we see no danger nor see any reason of danger yet our fancy can create dangers unto us The Lords second comming is often mentioned in the sacred Scripture and as often in the night which defines not the time but shews the manner of His coming As a thiefe in the night as a snare suddenly when by the most least expected All these considerations should teach us to watch over our hearts and to take a strict account of our wayes at our lying down and to lift up our eyes to the Keeper of Israel that His eyes may be upon us for good appointing a sure Guard about us in the night As we cannot tell what a day may bring forth so nor can we know how our feares may increase before the next morning we cannot no not the wisest of men look forward a few houres to tell what may happen before the day-dawn a Imminentium nescius Tac. de Paeto 15. 2. which should engage our heart to Him who changeth not And that it may be so we must remember our prayers and our praises these being performed in a right manner do secure us touching protection in the night prayer will help us against carefulnesse notwithstanding our dangers are so many as we have heard it will suck out the heart of our feares and sorrows b Preces hirudo curarum Mâ—lanch so as they shall not hurt us nor dismay us but that we may lye down in peace But then we must remember what prayer is It is saith Luther The unutterable groaning of those who despaire of any strength in themselves c Precatio est gemitus inenarrabilis desperantium dese Luther in Gen. It is not every prayer which secureth us there is a prayer which more provoketh uttered only from the lips in such a manner as would not be accepted before our Governour d Melac 1. 8. We must remember our tribute of praise too great reason That we should praise the Lord who hath yet spared us in the night of our ignorance when we could not enquire after Him and in the night of our vanitie when we cared not for Him and in the night of our sorrow when our spirits were overwhelmed that we remembred Him not Thus hath He patiently spared and hitherto watched over us to shew mercy when we were secure and carelesse in our duties towards Him which engageth us the more to give the more praise to His name And so much may teach us to keep sound wisdome and discretion that when thou lyest down thy sleep may be sweet so I have done with those foure seasons in the day so seasonable for instruction CHAP. IX An ordinary and great neglect in point of education The ground of that neglect For the helping thereof the Parent is advised to fix upon two conclusions what they are Of the Schoole and School-master and the way he must go THus farre as my method or way led me touching the good culture of the childe It prescribes a way to no man no matter what way he takes so he doth his dutie and so the work be done and the end attained which is The tilling over the whole man by the well improving of this seed-time A season very much neglected willingly or ignorantly let slip and passed-over by the most Parents too many make but a waste of those so precious houres as was said Preface pag. 20. and as it were an emptie space which yet being improved would serve to fill and store up that which would be of more use to promote the childe then the Parents purse though therein he puts more confidence Thus I say it is for the most part and we cannot easily believe how much the Family the Common-wealth the Church how much all suffer for this neglect herein And which is the losse indeed The higher the persons are and the more promising their parts the more for the most part they are neglected in point of culture and due manurance It was Mr. Calvins complaint f Hoc erat summâ— dâ—cus nobilibus nibil proâ—sus tenere doctriâ—â— gloriati sunt etiam nobiles hoc nomine quod 〈◊〉 essent clerici quemadmodum vulgò loquunâ—â—â— c. cal in Dan. cap. 1. The honourable of the land account it a point of their honour that they have no learning none at all And in this they glory that they are no Clarks as the usuall saying is Charron relates for it is out of another to the same purpose That Noblemens children learn nothing by order and rule but to manage the Horse he gives the reason Because the Horse is neither Flatterer nor Courtier he will cast a Noble-man as well as a meaner person g Of wisdome first book chap. 49. pag. 203. Our learned Perkins observed the like in his time Mr. Ascham a worthy Tutour to an excellent Princesse h As the Rose the Queen of flowers so she the Queen of Queens and of Kings also for Religion pietie magnanimitie justice you cannot question what Rose I mean sith so she was by desart and descent Lord Cooke Preface to Littleton tells us as much and it is very notable which he tells us this it is Some of our young Gentlemen count it their shame to be counted learned and perchance they count it their shame to be counted honest also For I heare say they meddle as little with the one as with the other A marvellous case that Gentlemen should be so ashamed of good learning and never a whit ashamed of ill manners such do lay for them that the Gentlemen of France do so But that is not so many good Schollers there young and Gentlemen indeed do prove that to be most false Though yet we must grant that some in France who will needs be Gentlemen whether men will or no and have more Gentleship in their hat then in their head be at deadly feude with both learning and honesty So he in his Grammar-Schoole page 18. five pages before * Page 13. The same goodman doth cast up the reckoning for these young Gentlemen that at the foot of the account they may read the issuâ— and product of their cast-away houres and much abused good parts thus he saith The fault is in your selves ye Noble-mens sonnes and therefore ye deserve the greater blame that
strong windy night kept from being extinct when as we often see in many that a little cold comes but in at a little cranney and blowes their Candle out as Iob speakes Thus hath God kept thee and as it were in His hand carryed thee And in thy way how hath He crowned thee with His goodnesse and filled thy yeares with comforts so as they are more innumerable then are the Minutes of thy life Only thus thou must summe them up in the grosse That whatever comfort thou hast had in thy life time from Him thou receivedst it who puts in all the Sugar and delight we finde in or from the Creature as Ayre lights not without the Sunne nor wood heats without fire so neither can any condition comfort without God and with Him every condition is comfortable though seemingly never so discomfortable for He moderateth the discomfort it is like thou hast found it so so as we are not swallowed up of sorrow and He fashioneth the heart to that disconsolate condition and that condition to the heart so much it is very likly thou hast found also and it requires thy sad and serious consideration But more especially this thou must consider what have been the effects and fruits of all this goodnesse What thou hast returned to the Lord for all these All these what are these Nay it is not possible to reckon them up They that keepe a Register of Gods mercies some doe cannot set downe all the Receits of one Day much lesse of all their dayes so great is the summe of every particular day that we cannot reckon up the specialties thereof and call them by their names as God doth the Starres But put it to the Question and let thy heart make answer before him who tryeth the heart and searcheth the reines and will bring every secret thing to judgment The Oyle and radicall Balsome of thy life we spake of hath it been fuell to thy Thankfulnesse or hath it increased the fire of thy lusts Thou hast been preserved and delivered so long and so miraculously as thou hast heard and seene How hath Gods patience and longsuffering wrought upon thee Hath it brought thee nearer to repentance and so nearer to God Or hath thine heart been hardned thereby because sentence against an evill worke is not presently Eccles 8. 11. executed So as with that stubborne people whose sonnes and daughters naturally we are thou mayst say I have been delivered to doe more abominations Ierem. 7. 10. Thou hast had mercies upon mercies they have been new unto thee every morning and for thy Sorrowes they have been mitigated too and so mixed that there was much mercy in them many ingredients of comfort to take of the sharpnesse and allay the bitter relish thereof What strong workings hast thou found herefrom How hast thou been inclined to love the Lord for His goodnesse to feare Him for His Mercies How hast thou been melted thereby to obedience and engaged upon his Service Aske thy selfe againe for in that Method we went Thou hast two hands another hath but one or perhaps none what more worke hast thou done Thou hast a Tongue and the use of the same there is another thou knowest who hath a Tonguâ— but speakes not wherein hast thou glorified thy Maker more then the other hath done Thou hast two eyes thy Neighbour is darke Aske the same question over againe For as it was said of him who was borne blind So it was that the workes of God Iohn 3. 9. should be made manifest in him So we may say we have our eyes eares tongues hands which others have not That we might the more ptaise the Lord for His goodnesse and declare His workes toward the children of men These are the questions but upon the point it is but this single question and the very same and to the same purpose which the King makes to that I doe allude touching Mordecay What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecay Esther 6. 3. for this So let this be the question What honour what service hath been done to the Lord He hath so honoured thee he hath so served thee he hath so and so preserved thee from the Paw of the Lyon and jaw of the beare so delivered thee Through his strength thou didst leap over such a wall He brought thee out of such a strait He supported thee in such weaknesses He supplyed thee in such a Wildernesse He gave successe to thee in such businesses What shall I say for we are confounded here He is the God not of some but of all consolations the Father of mercies And we can no more number them then we can the drops of the raine or of the dew or the Treasures of the snow and haile but we know who is the Father of them and out of whose Bowels these mercies come whereby thou hast been fed all thy life long and redeemed from evill we know the price of them too the very least of them is the price of bloud What honour hath been done for all this What peculiar Service that 's the single question If now thy heart make answer as we read in the foregoing place There is nothing done no peculiar service at all instead of being the Temple of His praise thou hast been the grave of His mercies They have been buried in thee they have brought forth no fruits if this be the answer of thy heart and so it condemne thee the Lord is greater then our hearts He will condemn much more And therefore it is high time to look into the Register of Gods mercies into the books of record And if these mercies have laine as things cast aside and of no account as dead things out of minde if so long and to this day forgot then now it is high time that thy rest should be troubled and sleep should not come into thy eye till thou hast looked over this Register and recorded the mercies of the Lord and so pressed them on thy conscience That it may answer out of a pure heart that something at the length is done some sacrifice of praise and thanks is returned to the Lord for all this This is the first thing to be done now and it is high time to do it Considering the season It is supposed that gray haires are upon thee here and there they are sugared now and like the hoary frost The Almond tree flourisheth thou art in the winter of thine age It is high time now to look about thee and to consider That is the first ground of consideration 2. That time is hasting whose portion and burden from the Lord is but labour and sorrow And then though we have time for our day lasteth while life lasteth yet no time to do any thing in it to purpose for then the Grasse hopper is a burden So I make two periods of this age And each a ground to presse on unto a timely consideration The one I call